Wisconsin Surpasses 5,000 Coronavirus Cases, 257 Deaths

MILWAUKEE, WI — Wisconsin health officials recorded 11 new coronavirus-related deaths and more than 200 new cases Thursday as the state eclipsed the 5,000 mark in confirmed cases for the first time.

Yesterday, Wisconsin saw the biggest 24-hour increase in confirmed cases with 225. Thursday's 24-hour increase came close at 207. Wisconsin has only seen three 200-plus increases since it started tracking case numbers, and two of the top three have come roughly two weeks after the April 7 presidential primary and statewide general election.

The following data was provided by the Wisconsin Hospital Association via their COVID-19 Situational Awareness Dashboard. All results are current as of 3:30 p.m. on April 23.

State health officials voiced their concern that the state will see more people come down with infections now that it's roughly two weeks after the election, though early results cannot determine whether people were infected at the polls or whether they went to the polls while already infected with the virus. State officials have confirmed 19 election-related infections as of Thursday.

"We have correlation. They voted, they were at the polls, but we do not have causation," Julie Willems Van Dijk, DHS deputy secretary, said in a FOX 6 report. "They are all people who could have had exposure at other places."

State health officials say they do not know whether the 19 people became infected because they went to a polling place, or whether they were already infected by the time they participated in the election.

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State health officials said those infected either voted in-person or worked at the polls on election day.

"Public health officials continue to interview people who have tested positive with COVID-19 and query whether someone has reported voting in person or working at the polls. Since we only have data on positive cases (without a comparison group of people who were not tested or tested negative), there is no way to know with certainty if any exposures at the polls that are reported are in fact attributable to COVID-19 illness," Wisconsin health officials said in a statement.

Wisconsin Coronavirus Cases: By The Numbers

The following data was provided by the Wisconsin Hospital Association via their COVID-19 Situational Awareness Dashboard. All results are current as of 3:30 p.m. on April 23.

Cases

5,052 Total Cases
207 Increase Over Last 24 Hours

Deaths

257 Total Deaths
11 Increase Over Last 24 Hours

Hospital Admissions

349 Total COVID-19 Patients

203 Patients With Pending Tests

124 Intensive Care Unit Patients

Bed Count

Intensive Care Unit

1,432 Total
458 Available

Intermediate Care

864 Total
172 Available

Medical Surgical

7,347 Total
1,776 Available

Negative Flow Isolation Beds

1,979 Total
1,228 Available